We are all both parts of larger external systems, and made up of smaller internal systems.

Art can help us appreciate connections both within us and beyond us.

Key Questions

CHOOSE: How can I mix the distinctive characteristics of various media within one artwork?

LEARN:What can I learn about nature (parts that work together in my body)?

SEEK: What art ideas can I get from my (internal) natural environment?

Community Connections

We are surrounded by and have grown dependent on human-made systems. Hohokam farmers built a system of canals to irrigate their crops a thousand years before Phoenix was founded. A century or so ago, European-Americans extended and rebuilt those canals to irrigate citrus orchards, cotton farms, and to water livestock in the Valley of the Sun. Not so long ago, a new light rail system was integrated with the existing railroad, highway, aviation, and growing bicycle transportation systems of the greater Phoenix area. Digital electronic systems undergird our personal, professional, educational, recreational, and family lives through smartphones, laptops, wearable medical devices, credit card chips, gaming platforms, online courses, and social networks. These digital systems store, exchange, and share data through an electronic mega-system called the Internet.

A natural system of systems has existed immeasurably longer than any human-made system: a universe of billions of galaxies, including our own Milky Way, where our solar system is but one in billions of stars, and the earth, with all its natural systems, is just one of eight planets in our solar system. The Mogollon Rim, resulted from the movement of a system of tectonic plates riding on a core of molten rock. Systems of plant and animal life adapted to movements of air and moisture controlled by the climate systems of the biosphere to populate and thrive in the Valley of the Sun.

Large pieces of draft paper for tracing
Assorted colored markers
Assorted crayons
Paper scraps for experimentation
OPTIONAL: Wall space where one large drawing at a time can be displayed for presentation to the class.

Credits:

Monica Aissa Martinez for photographs and documentation of her anatomy workshop on her blog.
Chrystal Bridges for bringing Monica Aissa Martinez to Arkansas to teach her high school anatomy workshop.
Michelle Nichols Dock and Monica Aissa Martinez for planning and photographing their anatomy drawing activity at Tempe's Geeks' Night Out Science and Engineering Festival.
Nancy Egly for consultation on content and photography.

VA. CN.10.2: Create works of art about events in home, school, or community life. (Lesson 3)

English Language Arts Standards (Lesson Two)

ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R4 : Interpret words and phrases [or visual qualities] as they are used in a text [artwork], including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word [or visual] choices shape meaning or tone.

ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.4: Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 6–8 texts and topics.

ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of symbols, key terms, and other domain-specific words and phrases as they are used in a specific scientific or technical context relevant to grades 9–10 texts and topics.

ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R1: Read closely to determine what the text [artwork] says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual [visual] evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text [artwork].